Michigan

Defense attorney Richard Hillary, left, demonstrates on Dr. Stephen Cohle a hypothetical version of a knife attack during Christina Kipkorir's preliminary exam at Grand Rapids District Court Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Kipkorir is accused of killing her boyfriend, Robert Shields, at Oak Hill Cemetery in June. Cohle was testifying as an expert witness to Shields' stab wounds. The chairs were positioned like the chairs of a van where the stabbing allegedly took place.
(Cory Morse | MLive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- In the hours after Christina Kipkorir allegedly stabbed Robert Shields and left him bleeding to death at Oak Hill Cemetery, police say she went to a Meijer store, bought UV Blue Vodka and used Shields’ credit card to purchase a video game later sold for drug money.

Hite’s testimony came during a two-hour probable cause hearing for Kipkorir in Grand Rapids District Court. Her case was bound over to circuit court, where she has been found competent to stand trial for open murder.

According to Hite, Kipkorir admitted to police that she stabbed Shields multiple times in the cemetery. She later told authorities where to find the foot-long kitchen knife used in the crime.

But the stabbing came as a means of self-defense, Kipkorir has reportedly said in police interviews.

According to Hite, Kipkorir has said she and Shields first went to the cemetery late June 13 in his van with the intention that he would stop there and give her cash.

Shields was massaging her shoulders in the backseat when he engaged in unwanted “touching,” something she says she did not approve of. As he moved into a seat next to her, Kipkorir told police she grabbed a knife off the minivan floor.

The majority of blood was found in the driver’s seat and on the surrounding floor area, a Crime Scene Technician, Brian Reed, testified. That would suggest, he said, that Shields spent some time in that area during or after the attack.

Police responded early June 14 and found his body near the front of Oak Hill Cemetery, 604 Hall St. SE. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities came into contact with Kipkorir the same morning after she made a 911 call while walking not far from the cemetery, asking for help. Police found her intoxicated and took her to a local hospital. They later found she had some of Shields' belongings and took her in for questioning, Hite testified.

Forensic Pathologist Stephen Cohle conducted an autopsy on Shields and determined he was stabbed a total of 17 times. One wound, on his neck—which Cohle believed to be fatal— was approximately 3 1/8 inches deep and passed through the jugular vein, almost severing the carotid artery, he testified.

The placement of the attack—whether it happened in the backseat of Shields’ van as Kipkorir has allegedly said, or somewhere else—likely will come into focus during trial and allow jurors to decide whether self-defense played any role.

Kipkorir’s mentor, Judy Grooters, and others who have worked with her in a religious setting at the jail, sat in on Tuesday’s hearing. Grooters spoke of her afterward.

She described Kipkorir as a woman who has never had a true mother figure in her life. In the 12 years Grooters has known her, Kipkorir has been a “positive” woman simply in need of guidance, she said.

“She’s always been very kind and shown me respect,” Grooters said.

Testimony police and a medical examiner gave on Tuesday ran in contrast and painted the image of a brutal crime.